Self-configuring vehicle console application store

• US 9,098,367 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2013
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AutoConnect Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Flextronics America LLC (Flextronics International Limited)
• Inventors: Ricci, Christopher P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Das, Chameli
• Application Number:
  US13/963,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20140109080A1
• Time in Patent Office: 725 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to an application store on board a vehicle. The application store contains, in one configuration, a plurality of applications for installation on an on board computer of the vehicle, with the applications provided to the vehicle operator being provided to the operator being based on predetermined types of information related to the vehicle, its state, operation, and/or configuration, vehicle location, vehicle type, make, model, and/or year of manufacture, and/or occupant(s) and/or occupant(s) of other vehicles.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a microprocessor executable application manager, vehicle configuration data, wherein the vehicle configuration data is stored locally in a tangible and non-transitory computer readable memory of a vehicle and wherein the vehicle configuration data is updated dynamically to reflect a change in the vehicle configuration data, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of an on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof;

determining, by the application manager, a requirement of a selected application in an application store, wherein the requirement relates to one or more of a microprocessor, central processing unit, a service quality measure of network performance, available, unused, unavailable, and/or in use memory capacity, and operating system, the application store comprising information relating to a plurality of applications available for installation on a vehicle computer, the plurality of applications comprising a plurality of an application related to at least one of a handicap and accessibility graphical user interfaces, an email client, a web browser, a communications application, a game, an entertainment application, a satellite positioning system receiver application, an automotive navigation application or a device, a map application, a medical information application, an emergency service application, a noise suppression application, a news-related application, a vehicle manual related application, a weather information-related application, a biometric application, a travel application, a speech recognition application, an application to read to an operator of the vehicle Really Simple Syndication (“

RSS”

) feeds, Twitter messages, email messages, and/or instant messages, a social networking application, a streaming media application, and a utility application; and

comparing, by the application manager, the vehicle configuration data with the requirement of the selected application to determine at least one of whether the selected application can be installed currently in an electronic readable memory of the vehicle computer and/or whether the selected application can be executed currently by the vehicle computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring, by the application manager and for presentation to a user, a graphical interface of the application store based the vehicle configuration data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the configuring comprises generating and providing to the user a vehicle compatible listing of applications in the application store.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the configuring comprises generating and providing to the user one of a vehicle incompatible listing of applications in the application store and a set of requirements for one or more vehicle incompatible applications to be executable by the vehicle computer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein an application store configuration is based on one or more of whether a communication device, separate from the vehicle, is docked or otherwise in signal communication with the application manager and a configuration of and/or applications stored on and executable by the communication device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the application manager changes license restrictions or permissions to enable one or more of the applications stored on the communication device to execute on a processor on-board the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a current vehicle state, configuration, on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof, and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a currently on board vehicle network accessible hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications comprise applications directed to one or more of the following:

a vehicle control application, and an application associated with at least one vehicle task, function, and operation, wherein the application store configuration is based on sensed information received from one or more vehicle sensors, and wherein the sensed information comprises one or more of the following;

wheel state, vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed, wheel slip, power source energy output, engine speed, energy input and/or output, turbine speed, input speed, crankshaft position, manifold absolute pressure, mass flow, switch state, a transmission setting, a gear control current setting, a setting of a power controller, a state of a braking system, a seat setting, a weight and/or identity of seated occupant, exterior sound levels, interior sound levels, safety system state, light setting, brake control setting, accelerator pedal setting or angle, clutch pedal setting, emergency brake pedal setting, door setting, engine temperature, passenger compartment or cabin temperature sensor, window setting, imaging output, odometer reading, trip mileage reading, wind speed, radar transmitter/receiver output, brake wear, steering/torque, oxygen level, ambient lighting, ranging sensor output, parking sensor output, heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) sensor output, water sensor output, air-fuel ratio meter output, blind spot monitor output, hall effect sensor output, radio frequency (RF) sensor output, infrared (IR) sensor output, vehicle control system sensor output, wireless network sensor output, vehicle location, vehicle direction of travel, and cellular data sensor output.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed, configure, for presentation to a user, a graphical interface of the application store based the vehicle configuration data.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the configure operation comprises generating and providing to the user a vehicle compatible listing of applications in the application store.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the configure operation comprises generating and providing to the user one of a vehicle incompatible listing of applications in the application store and a set of requirements for one or more vehicle incompatible applications to be executable by the vehicle computer.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a current vehicle state, configuration, on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof, and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a currently on board vehicle network accessible hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the plurality of applications comprise an application directed to one or more of the following:

a vehicle control application, and an application associated with at least one vehicle task, function, and operation, wherein the application store configuration is based on g2 sensed information received from one or more vehicle sensors, and wherein the sensed information comprises one or more of the following;

wheel state, vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed, wheel slip, power source energy output, engine speed, energy input and/or output, turbine speed, input speed, crankshaft position, manifold absolute pressure, mass flow, switch state, a transmission setting, a gear control current setting, a setting of a power controller, a state of a braking system, a seat setting, a weight and/or identity of seated occupant, exterior sound levels, interior sound levels, safety system state, light setting, brake control setting, accelerator pedal setting or angle, clutch pedal setting, emergency brake pedal setting, door setting, engine temperature, passenger compartment or cabin temperature sensor, window setting, imaging output, odometer reading, trip mileage reading, wind speed, radar transmitter/receiver output, brake wear, steering/torque, oxygen level, ambient lighting, ranging sensor output, parking sensor output, heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) sensor output, water sensor output, air-fuel ratio meter output, blind spot monitor output, hall effect sensor output, radio frequency (RF) sensor output, infrared (IR) sensor output, vehicle control system sensor output, wireless network sensor output, vehicle location, vehicle direction of travel, and cellular data sensor output.

10. A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium, storing microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform the following operations:

determine vehicle configuration data wherein the computer readable medium is located in a vehicle, wherein the vehicle configuration data is updated dynamically to reflect a change in the vehicle configuration data, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of an on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof;

determine a requirement of a selected application in an application store, and wherein the requirement relates to a microprocessor, central processing unit, a service quality measure of network performance, available, unused, unavailable, and/or in use memory capacity, and operating system, the application store comprising information relating to a plurality of applications available for installation on a vehicle computer, the plurality of applications comprising a plurality of an application related to at least one of a handicap and accessibility graphical user interfaces, an email client, a web browser, a communications application, a game, an entertainment application, a satellite positioning system receiver application, an automotive navigation application or device, a map application, a medical information application, an emergency service application, a noise suppression application, a news-related application, a vehicle manual related application, a weather information-related application, a biometric application, a travel application, a speech recognition application, an application to read to an operator of the vehicle Really Simple Syndication (“

RSS”

) feeds, Twitter messages, email messages, and/or instant messages, a social networking application, a streaming media application, and a utility application; and

compare the vehicle configuration data with the requirement of the selected application to determine at least one of whether the selected application can be installed currently in the computer readable medium and/or whether the selected application can be executed currently by the vehicle computer.

17. A device, comprising:

a microprocessor;

a microprocessor executable application manager that, when executed by the microprocessor, is operable to;

determine vehicle configuration data;

determine a requirement of a selected application in an application store, the application store comprising information relating to a plurality of applications available for installation on a vehicle computer, the plurality of applications comprising a plurality of an application related to at least one of a handicap and accessibility graphical user interfaces, an email client, a web browser, a communications application, a game, an entertainment application, a satellite positioning system receiver application, an automotive navigation application or a device, a map application, a medical information application, an emergency service application, a noise suppression application, a news-related application, a vehicle manual related application, a weather information-related application, a biometric application, a travel application, a speech recognition application, an application to read to an operator of the vehicle Really Simple Syndication (“

RSS”

) feeds, Twitter messages, email messages, and/or instant messages, a social networking application, a streaming media application, and a utility application; and

compare the vehicle configuration data with the requirement of the selected application to determine at least one of whether the selected application can be installed currently in an electronic readable memory of the vehicle computer and/or whether the selected application can be executed currently by the vehicle computer, wherein the electronic readable memory is located in the vehicle, wherein the vehicle configuration data is updated dynamically to reflect a change in the vehicle configuration data, and wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of an on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof, and wherein the requirement relates to a microprocessor, central processing unit, a service quality measure of network performance, available, unused, unavailable, and/or in use memory capacity, and operating system.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the application manager, when executed, configures, for presentation to a user, a graphical interface of the application store based the vehicle configuration data.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the configure operation comprises generating and providing to the user a vehicle compatible listing of applications in the application store.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the configure operation comprises generating and providing to the user one of a vehicle incompatible listing of applications in the application store and a set of requirements for one or more vehicle incompatible applications to be executable by the vehicle computer.

21. The device of claim 17, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a current vehicle state, configuration, on board hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof, and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

22. The device of claim 17, wherein the vehicle configuration data relates to one or more of a currently on board vehicle network accessible hardware and/or software resource, module, algorithm, and/or component and/or a setting and/or property thereof and wherein the requirement relates to one or more of hardware, vehicle local network performance, memory, operating system, software, and vehicle local network algorithm and/or messaging and/or signaling protocol.

23. The device of claim 17, wherein the plurality of applications comprise an application directed to one or more of the following:

a vehicle control application, and an application associated with at least one vehicle task, function, and operation, wherein the application store configuration is based on sensed information received from one or more vehicle sensors, and wherein the sensed information comprises one or more of the following;

wheel state, vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed, wheel slip, power source energy output, engine speed, energy input and/or output, turbine speed, input speed, crankshaft position, manifold absolute pressure, mass flow, switch state, a transmission setting, a gear control current setting, a setting of a power controller, a state of a braking system, a seat setting, a weight and/or identity of seated occupant, exterior sound levels, interior sound levels, safety system state, light setting, brake control setting, accelerator pedal setting or angle, clutch pedal setting, emergency brake pedal setting, door setting, engine temperature, passenger compartment or cabin temperature sensor, window setting, imaging output, odometer reading, trip mileage reading, wind speed, radar transmitter/receiver output, brake wear, steering/torque, oxygen level, ambient lighting, ranging sensor output, parking sensor output, heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) sensor output, water sensor output, air-fuel ratio meter output, blind spot monitor output, hall effect sensor output, radio frequency (RF) sensor output, infrared (IR) sensor output, vehicle control system sensor output, wireless network sensor output, vehicle location, vehicle direction of travel, and cellular data sensor output.

24. The device of claim 23, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information; and

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations.

25. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information;

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations; and

a touch sensitive display adapted to access one or more selected applications, wherein an icon associated with each of plural installed applications can be moved and/or sized by a user to a desired location on the touch sensitive display to provide a user customized display configuration.

26. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information;

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations; and

a touch sensitive display adapted to access one or more selected applications, wherein the display comprises a console application tray, the console application tray to provide access to applications in the application store, an icon associated with plural of the applications in the application store being accessible in a first state of the console application tray and not accessible in a second state of the console application.

27. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information;

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations; and

a touch sensitive display adapted to access one or more selected applications, wherein an icon associated with each of plural applications, wherein an appearance of each icon indicates whether the corresponding application has been installed and/or purchased or is available for purchase via the application store.

28. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information;

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations; and

a touch sensitive display adapted to access one or more selected applications, wherein the plural applications in the application store are grouped and/or ranked by one or more of recommended applications for the user, popular applications based on behavior of other users, vehicle compatible application, vehicle incompatible application, and type and/or category of application based on a function provided by the application.

29. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information;

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations; and

a touch sensitive display adapted to access one or more selected applications, wherein the microprocessor executable application manager collects data regarding a current vehicle state, configuration, operation, location, and/or occupant(s) and determines whether or not to permit or enable access to all or part of the application store, the determination being based on one or more of a user preference, a vehicle manufacturer policy and/or rule, and/or federal, state, and/or local law.

30. The device of claim 17, further comprising:

a passenger compartment for the vehicle operator;

a transmission;

a power source to provide power to the transmission;

a plurality of sensors to collect the sensed information; and

a vehicle control system to control vehicle operations, wherein applications on a black list of applications are excluded from the application store and applications on a white list of applications are included in the application store.